New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices fell in early trade on Tuesday amid continuous foreign fund outflows from the capital markets and largely muted earnings from corporates so far.
The BSE Sensex declined 322.24 points to 79,682.80 during the initial trade. The NSE Nifty went lower by 86.55 points to 24,252.60.
From the 30 Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel fell by nearly 3 percent even as the company reported a 168 percent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,593 crore for the September quarter.
Mahindra & Mahindra, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, Infosys and IndusInd Bank were also among the laggards.
NTPC, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Nestle were the gainers.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,228.08 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
"Caution prevails due to upcoming US jobs data and the presidential election, alongside heavy FII outflows," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
In Asian markets, Seoul and Shanghai were quoting lower while Tokyo and Hong Kong traded in the green.
The US markets ended in positive territory on Monday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude traded 0.18 percent higher at USD 71.55 a barrel.
The BSE benchmark jumped 602.75 points or 0.76 percent to settle at 80,005.04 on Monday. The Nifty soared 158.35 points or 0.65 percent to 24,339.15.
(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)